Emil Chr. Hansen 5 Særtryk 1901-1909

 HANSEN: CONSIDERATIONS ON TECHNICAL MYCOLOGY. 597 train up the student, not only in physiology, but also in morphology and classification. It matters not that the theorems set forth are illustrated by means of species which play an important part in practical life; this may even exert a particularly inspiring influence on the minds of the majority of juvenile hearers. Researches pro- ductive of practical results will, from this very reason, prove to be possessed of a healthful rejuvenating power. Speaking of science at large, Pasteur says that it is emphatically a work of patience and perseverance. He characterises his own work of practically useful investigations in these words: “Nothing gives the scientific investigator greater pleasure than to make new discoveries; but his joy is redoubled when his observations prove to have a direct application in practical life.” }Ve, who are engaged in pursuits similar to those by which our great predecessor made his mark, will surely, all of us, be ready to endorse his view. Another point: Research which has for its object the collection of results of impor- tance to practice, possesses an educational power, of which purely theoretical research is often destitute. I am here alluding to the fiery ordeal to which our results are subjected, when, after obtaining them in the laboratory, we have to apply them to practice. The practical man does not care about being told how matters possibly stand, but he demands to get an insight into their real state. Mere speculations may, in the field of theoretical science, often bring éclat to their author, but this is not possible where practical science is con- cerned. What I have said here is not intended to mean that the technical investigator has no occasion for imagination; on the contrary, no more in this than in any other field of science will any one be able to break new ground, unless he be, in one sense, a “dreamer of dreams.” But what I mean to say is that, by the demands of the industrials, we are brought up to set forth only that part of our imagination which, having been put to the proof of rigid analysis, has not been found wanting. As to that part which cannot stand the test, it is no more available to theoretical than to practical science. Experimental stations, technical laboratories, and technical schools have, I think, reached the highest development in Germany. The Emperor himself is at the head of this movement, and takes a keen interest in it; not infrequently he pays visits to technical institutions. He has, for instance, several times not only visited the Institut für